While at first glance there may seem little to unite tonight’s works, written centuries apart, both are responses to unforgettable times in each composer’s life. For Mozart, the recovery of his wife from critical illness; for Shostakovich, the Bolshevik Revolution seen through the prism of the post-WWII Soviet landscape. In each work, the dramatic unleashing of fanfare and fury punctate music underpinned by a defiant hopefulness and faith in humanity.